University of Waterloo Weather Station Annual Summary -
2015
A quick look at the
temperature graph for the year pretty much tells you the story for this
year. First is the large amount of blue
(indicating lower than average temperatures) in February and the lack of blue
(meaning higher than average temperatures) in December. These were both record months for the 100
years of weather data in our region.
The year started off
really cold with only a few warmer than average days during January, but this
was only a foreshadowing of what was to come.
Not only was it followed by the coldest February in the region, but it
was the coldest of any month. Also of
note was the low temperature on February 16th of -35.5 °C, which was the
coldest day we have recorded in the 17 year history of the UW Weather Station.
The spring started
out cold with March being at a little more than a degree below average (it
turned out to be the last colder than average month of the year). Then April was exactly average followed by May
which jumped up to being over 3 degrees warmer than average. Even with the warm temperatures in May, a
cold snap late in the month resulted in the temperature going below zero on May
23rd, this was the latest in the history of the UW weather station.
The summer saw its share
of both hot and cold days resulting in it coming out to pretty much average in
the end. The rest of the year was warm,
starting with September at 4 degrees above average, which was the second
warmest ever in the region, followed by October that was just about a degree
above. November came in at 3 degrees
above average and had both the second and third warmest November temperatures
since records began in the region.
Then came December,
which ranked as the warmest ever seen in the region by a full 2 degrees and it didn’t
have any colder than average days. Overall
for the year, it was 0.43 degrees above average during the year, this puts us
pretty much in middle of the pack for the last 10 years.
As for
precipitation, the year started off on the dry side and by the end of May it
was approaching the extreme low for that time of the year. However, June was the wettest month of the
year which almost put the total back into the average range. The rest of the year saw mostly drier than
average months with October being the only exception.
The total
precipitation for the year was 814.2 mm which is around 100 mm less than the
average of 916.3 mm. This puts it in the
below average range, but not historically low by any means.
Average Daily High Temperature: 12.96 °C (average 12.24 °C)
Average Daily Low Temperature: 2.01 °C (average 1.86 °C)
Total Precipitation: 814.2 mm (average 916.3 mm)
Click on the image below to see the precipitation chart: